Zach Suski on target again as Saints put a lid on Canners’ season
2024 Berks football coverage presented by
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Berks Catholic 48, Biglerville 7
By Josh Micsky — MikeDragoSports.com correspondent
BIGLERVILLE — We can officially call this a record-breaking campaign for Zach Suski.
The Berks Catholic quarterback sliced up Biglerville for 238 yards and two touchdowns and set a program single-season passing record in the process in a 48-7 win in a District 3 Class 3A quarterfinal Friday.
Suski completed each of his eight throws to push his season passing total to 1,524, topping the mark of 1,378 set by Terrance Derr in 2016.
Suski’s passing total was a season-high and 10 more yards than last week when he became the first Saints quarterback to throw for over 200 yards in a game.
The senior first-year starter is also on pace to set a Berks record for completion percentage in a season; he has been on target for 72.3 percent of his throws.
He’ll get a chance to add to his impressive stats next week when the fifth-seeded Saints (7-4) play at No. 1 Bermudian Springs (9-1), those his eyes are on the prize — a district championship — and not on the record book.
“I care more about the team than I do about myself,” Suski said “I’m just hoping we can get it done (in the playoffs).”
Get it done they did in Round One. The Saints moved the ball with ease, nearly doubling up Biglerville (7-4) in total yardage. They had 11 plays of 20 yards or more; two of those went for touchdowns to senior Scott Duffy, who had receptions of 69 and 57 yards.
Duffy used his speed to turn short completions into touchdowns.
“All we have to do is get it to our play-makers,” Suski said. “Scott especially is fast and can get right by the defense and into the end zone.”
Suski drew praise from Canners coach Brett Smyers.
“He found the open athlete, got him the ball, and just executed the offense all the way down the field,” Smyers said.
Bryce Gumby scored a pair of touchdowns for the Saints, who led 28-0 at the half. He also had four catches for 81 yards.
The Saints posted 495 total yards Friday: 257 on the ground, 238 through the air. They’ll face a much tougher defense next week. Bermudian has not allowed more than 111 passing yards in any game this season.
“They’re the No. 1 seed for a reason,” Stahler said. “Their only loss was in the first week of the season, so they’ve been getting better every week, too. We’re going to try to get better every day at practice this week and come out here and give it our best effort next week.”
Bermudian Springs is the York-Adams League Division 3 champ. Biglerville finished fourth in that league.
There were no playoff jitters for the Saints in their first district playoff appearance since 2021.
“It’s awesome,” said Duffy “I was a little nervous before, obviously, because it was my first playoff game ever. But after all, it’s just a game.”
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Berks Catholic | 14 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 48 |
| Biglerville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Scoring summary
| 1 | Berks Catholic | Duffy, 69 pass from Suski (Osorio kick) | 6:20 |
| 1 | Berks Catholic | Gumby, 4 run (Osorio kick) | 2:41 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Gumby, 3 run (Osorio kick) | 9:56 |
| 2 | Berks Catholic | Duffy, 57 pass from Suski (Osorio kick) | 1:51 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Rose, 12 run (Osorio kick) | 11:16 |
| 3 | Berks Catholic | Curley, 13 run (Osorio kick) | 2:53 |
| 4 | Biglerville | Hoffman, 19 run (Wolf kick) | 10:29 |
| 4 | Berks Catholic | Zudie, 33 run (kick failed) | 7:49 |
Team statistics
| Berks Catholic | Biglerville | |
| First downs | 20 | 11 |
| Rushes-yards | 24-257 | 37-177 |
| Passing yards | 238 | 75 |
| Total yards | 495 | 252 |
| Passes | 8-8-0 | 11-16-0 |
| Fumbles-lost | 3-1 | 2-2 |
| Punts-average | 0-0 | 3-35.3 |
| Penalties-yards | 2-15 | 2-10 |
Individual statistics
RUSHING
Berks Catholic: Rose 7-81, Schalk 2-47, Rios 4-39, Zudie 1-33, Gumby 4-23, Curley 3-22, Spatz 1-7, Sutton 1-6, Team 1-(-1).
Biglerville: Hoffman 25-156, Althoff 4-15, Taylor 2-7, Johnson 1-4, McAuliffe 1-(-2), Forney 4-(-3).
PASSING
Berks Catholic: Suski 8-8-0—238.
Biglerville: Forney 11-16-0—75.
RECEIVING
Berks Catholic: Gumby 4-81, Duffy 2-126, Rose 1-21, DiSabatino 1-10.
Biglerville: Johnson 6-36, Hoffman 3-29, Fulton 1-7, McAuliffe 1-3.
